COMPARATIVE ANATOMY. 
of the cat kind have their tongue covered 
witli slrarp and strong prickles, which must 
enable the animal to take a firm hold. Si- 
milar pointed processes are found in some 
other animals ; as in the bat kind and the 
opossum. 
There seems to be no doubt that in all the 
mammalia, which we have now considered, 
the tongue is an organ of taste, at least to- 
wards its anterior part. 
The toothless anima's, on the contrary, 
as the ant-eater and maiiis, which swallow 
their aliment whole, have a worm-like 
tongue, which is obviously capable of no 
other use than that of taking their food. 
The tongue of the woodpecker has a very 
singular structure, which admits ofits being 
darted out of the mouth for some inches : it 
is used for the purpose of catching insects, 
and is horny and barbed at its extremity. 
In the frog and chameleon the tongue is 
also the organ by which the prey is seized. 
Iti tire former animal it is long, soft, and 
covered with a glutinous slime. In the 
quiescent state it lies from before backwards 
in the mouth, from which it is darted at the 
prey, consisting of insects, which become 
entangled by the viscid fluid. The tongue 
of the chameleon displays a very curious 
mechanism. It is contained in a sheathat the 
lower part of the mouth ; and has its extre- 
mity covered with a glutinous secretion. 
It admits of being projected to the length 
of six inches, and is used in this manner by 
the animal in catching its food, which con- 
sists of flies, &c. It is darted from the 
mouth with onderful celerity and precision, 
and the viscous secretion on its extremity 
entangles the small animals which constitute 
the food of the chameleon. 
ORGAN OF SMELI.ING. 
Two remarkable instances of anomalous 
structure in parts connected with the nose 
occur in the proboscis of the elephant, and 
the blowing holes of the cetacea. The for- 
mer organ consists of two canals, separated 
from each other by an intervening-partition. 
Innuragrable muscular fasciculi, running in 
two directions, occupy the space between 
these and the integuments. There are fibres 
of a transverse course, passing like radii 
from the canals to the integuments, and 
others, which run in a more longitudinal 
direction, but have their extremities turned 
inwards. The former extend the trunk, 
without causing any contraction of the ca- 
nals; the latter bend or contract it; and 
both tend to bestow on it that wonderful 
mobility, which it possesses in every direc- 
tion. 
The more longitudinal fibres are divided 
at short intervals by tendinous intersec- 
tions, which enable tlie animal to bend any 
part of the organ, and to give it any requi- 
site degree of curvature. The same struc- 
ture will confer a power of bending different 
parts of the trunk in opposite directions ; in- 
deed there is no kind of curvature which 
may not be produced by these longitudinal 
fibres. These fasciculi occupy the external 
surface of the organ. The transverse fibres 
are not all arranged like radii rotmd the 
canals ; but some pass across from right to 
left, and must tlierefore affect the diameter 
of those tubes by their action. The whole 
ot these muscular fasciculi are surrounded 
and connected together by a white, uni- 
form, adipous substance. The transverse 
ones are not more than a line in thickness. 
If the number of these which appears on a 
transverse section be ascertained, and if 
those portions of the longitudinal fasciculi, 
which pass from one tendon to anotlier, be 
reckoned as separate muscles (for they must 
have a separate power of action) the whole 
trunk will contain about thirty or forty 
thousand muscles, which will account satis- 
factorily for the wonderful variety of mo- 
tions which this admirable organ can exe- 
cute, and for the great power which it is 
capable of exerting. 
The blowing-hole of the whales serves as 
well for respiration as for the rejection of 
the water which enters with the food. In 
consequence of its situation at the top of 
the head, it is easily elevated beyond the 
surface of the sea, while the mouth is usually 
entirely under water. 
The opening in the bones of the head is 
divided into two by a partition of bone ; 
and is furnished with a valve opening out- 
wards. On the outside of this opening are 
two membranous bags, lined with a conti- 
nuation of the integuments, and opening * 
externally. The water-, which tlie animal 
wishes to discharge, is thrown into the fau- 
ces, as if it were to be swallow-ed; but its de- 
scent into the stomach is prevented by the 
contraction of. the circular fibres of the 
oesophagus. It therefore elevates the valve 
placed at the entrance of the blowing holes, 
and distends the membranous bag, fiom 
which it is forcibly expelled by surrounding 
muscular fibres. 
This apparatus occupies the situation, 
which in other mammalia is filled by the 
nose ; which organ, together with the si- 
